The opposition should just pack up and close shop now because it is becoming good-for-nothing.

One may think there should always be an opposition, but I say it is only good to have an opposition if it is worth having one.

If the opposition is extremist, soft or stupid, then no opposition at all is best.

Malaysians have no alternative to Barisan Nasional. Only BN and specifically only Umno, can govern Malaysia and provide stability. After all, Umno has given us four good prime ministers.

True, the fourth Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been an autocrat like Lee Kuan Yew who took away so much of our democracy compared to the three premiers before him.

But he is going now, and premier-in-waiting Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or Pak Lah who will be the fifth PM is a moderate leader who would be good for now.

We need a moderate leader who is not a religious fanatic nor an autocrat to govern us, at least for the next five years.

BN has other leaders such as Shahrir Abdul Samad to lead us in future. Even some of the non-Malay grassroots leaders are okay for the country, even though they may have no guts to challenge Malay dominance of Umno. Toh Kin Woon of Gerakan is exemplar.

The non-Malay parties should just dissolve and become one party called Umno 2, to complement Umno.

All their present leaders and committee members ought to leave with Mahathir. They are hopeless leaders, worse than Mahathir, because they do not have a mind of their own.

I am confident that Pak Lah will bring some liberalisation to Malaysia because he is an ally of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa Hitam who had fought hard for reforms in the government during their times.

Non-governmental organisations and people's associations are doing more than the opposition to fight the oppression of Dr M's yes-men. We cannot depend on politicians any more. They are useless.

We should form more NGOs and work together to keep the government in check and stop its excesses on pet projects in the likes of KLCC, MSC, Bakun, F1, SEA Games, Sungai Selangor Dam. We should stop celebrating National Day and New Year until ISA is abolished, and until the judiciary is independent again.

We should use whatever power there is in our hands to oppose the government in a peaceful and non-violent manner. The government here includes PAS in Kelantan and Gerakan in Penang.

We can take a cue from activists like Organic Ong Boon Keong who risks jail for standing up for the rights of the people of Penang who want a clean and healthy island.

We can take a cue from Suaram which stands up for workers, especially estate workers.

We can take a cue from Aliran, which invites all of us to write anti-government letters expressing our outrage at the BN government.

We have nothing to celebrate until the government abolish the Internal Security Act and restore the independent judiciary.

Happy Merdeka, all Malaysians.